The Walking Dead Season 2 Discussion *Spoilers*

^I asked that very same question to hubby last night. Why would they linger there, when there was no more food to be had?

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I believe the comic book broke the zombies down into lurkers who go dormant when there's no stimulus around and roamers who just aimlessly wonder about. You also end up with big herds like the one that was following the RV.

"Death Valley" had a walking zombie closing in on two cops, members of the "Undead Task Force," who we're talking and stopping and talking and stopping. Every time they stopped, the zombie was catching up; every time they started walking, the zombie was left behind. Until they kept talking and one cop easily turned and just blew the zombie away. They continued their conversation like nothing big happened.

^I asked that very same question to hubby last night. Why would they linger there, when there was no more food to be had?

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We've seen with Morgan's wife that the zombies seem to retain some memories of their past lives (probably strong connections like family), as shown by her recognition of her own house after being some distance away, and repeated attempts to open the door. It's not enough to override the hunger impulse and prevent them from killing loved ones obviously, but they do retain some sort of unconscious connection.

Another example from the pilot would be the other deputy that Rick didn't like continuing to hang around the sheriff's office long after being turned.

The zombies milling about the school/aid center included soldiers and FEMA personnel who had manned it, so they make sense. But the others could include parents of students at the school (or teachers) or people who lost loved ones in the medical clinic.

The roaming herds on the freeways could be commuters, and their aimless walking could be because they're unconsciously continuing the journey homeward unless they come across a new food source.

An alternative could be that they're instinctively or mnemonically drawn to food traps; ie. places where healthy people are likely to travel for medical supplies, food, water, transportation, fortifications, etc. That could explain the large zombie presence just off a main thoroughfare in Atlanta, roaming the freeway, surrounding the CDC and the FEMA aid center, and wandering way up to the reservoir and source of fish/game in the hills that was the group's former camp.

Your alternative theory is more complicated than your first one; your first one was also similar to the one I proposed on the previous page.

With respect to the zombies finding the reservoir camp, the humans generated noise, and there was traffic in and out of the place, some of it noisy too. At the time, I thought they were generating enough stimulus to attract zombies.

It's not clear to me at all what the food requirements of zombies are.

Last week there were three zombies setting in church for what could have been the longest time.

I figured something in the recesses of their reptilian brains told the zombies at the FEMA station that that was an important place to go.

Similarly for the zombies sitting in church; I really doubt they were praying.

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That's nothing like my first proposal at all. It makes no mention of personal memories coming into play and cites no specific examples like Morgan's wife's attraction to her home. If anything, it's like the second proposal in saying that they're attracted to places humans are likely to go; the one you're now calling more complicated.

Nor do I see how either are particularly complicated, since they simply rely on memories and/or instinct, and the former has been clearly demonstrated in the pilot.

Maybe I misunderstand your second theory, but it sounds to me as if that requires some sort of strategic reasoning, which I presume to be absent in zombies.

Having a feeling of recognition in the face of something one has been previously exposed to requires and involves memory, but that is not the same thing as fully recalling what it is. That's why I didn't go so far as to say that the zombies were remembering anything. I don't think the memories are clear at all, but they are vague and at best dreamlike.

However, as far as I know, people don't instinctively want to sit in church; they are indoctrinated to do so. I thought the zombies were congregation in church and around FEMA, because they vaguely recognized those places as being important. I don't think that's the same thing as saying that they have any memories of those places, even if they were actually in those very places before, but I find it similar to the idea that they do, since it depends upon the zombies retaining some of their social conditioning.

Rick gave Lori a gun before the main group headed back to the RV, and Lori did give that gun to Andrea but Andrea gave it back after Lori talked a little about Rick selflessly running after Sophia (Lori was getting annoyed by the looks she was getting from Carol at that point).

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Betcha Andrea won't be giving up any guns anymore.

I did like the old man's belief, that this is a plague to rebalance things on Earth.

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That made me think that they'll pursue the idea that some people are naturally immune, since that's how species survive plagues.

Why? I think they're great at adding tension. Slow zombies just don't seem like much of a threat to me when you can just power walk away.

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Zombies can be a huge threat because you can't always be on your guard against them; their numbers can overwhelm you; and they induce such terror that their victims might not be able to respond effectively (I thought Andrea might have had a gun when the zombie attacked, and just been so panicked she didn't think to use it.)

Those factors make zombies enough of a threat. I don't think we need to add speed to that list.

Do we know if these zombies need to digest food? Bicycle girl may not have had much left of her digestive tract, but she was still going for it. Obviously the undead need to get energy from SOMEWHERE, but is it from the act of eating the living? Has the comic book covered any of this?

One wonders, if this is a virus, that the virus iteself metabolizes eaten flesh once it gets to the esophagus. Then the virus would collectively be able to animate its host body after doig so. It's not like zombieism is an exact science, but as far as we know, it's not black magic in The Walking Dead.

As for speed, I was thinking that lots of the dead lurkers would simply able around the area they reanimated, such as the FEMA facility, until some source of food came along. And if it's been a couple months since anything living was in the area, they may have been getting desperate for a new food source, but without the wandering instinct that the herd zombies have, they were ambling in wait for some fresh meat.

Zombies can be a huge threat because you can't always be on your guard against them; their numbers can overwhelm you; and they induce such terror that their victims might not be able to respond effectively (I thought Andrea might have had a gun when the zombie attacked, and just been so panicked she didn't think to use it.)

Those factors make zombies enough of a threat. I don't think we need to add speed to that list.

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I dunno. A single guy with a decent hunting rifle, good vantage point, and a couple dozen boxes of ammo could easily take out hundreds upon hundreds of them. The fact that zombies are dumb and slow would make manipulating their movements and setting traps fairly simple too.

This video makes an interesting comment about slow zombies being a deeper commentary on human failing (e.g. they only get you when your group is dysfunctional enough to let them) but personally I think that reasoning leans far too heavily on allegory for scares. One of the biggest problems with horror already is that it relies on people doing stupid things to advance the plot.

I prefer slow zombies, since they rely more on horror than terror, if you know what I mean. They're relentless, and you have time to think about it rather than just jump and panic. But I didn't think the zombies at the school moved too fast, not like the super-speed zombies in the Dawn Of The Dead remake. How fast they move probably just depends on the state of damage or decay; a new or undamaged zombie can probably move nearly as fast as a living human.

An alternative could be that they're instinctively or mnemonically drawn to food traps; ie. places where healthy people are likely to travel for medical supplies, food, water, transportation, fortifications, etc. That could explain the large zombie presence just off a main thoroughfare in Atlanta, roaming the freeway, surrounding the CDC and the FEMA aid center, and wandering way up to the reservoir and source of fish/game in the hills that was the group's former camp.

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That would work, too. It may all depend on which memory echoes are strongest. If somebody's strongest memory is to save their kid, they'll go to the school; if somebody's strongest memory is where people congregate-- now associated with feeding-- they'll migrate to the city. If somebody's strongest memory is of feeling safe in church, they'll go sit in a pew.

A single guy with a decent hunting rifle, good vantage point, and a couple dozen boxes of ammo could easily take out hundreds upon hundreds of them.

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A single guy can't watch his own back. At the very least, people should travel in groups and while one person does the sniping, one or two others serve as lookouts.

That's why I can't believe Otis was out there hunting on his own. To hunt, you need to concentrate your focus on your prey. How can you do that, worrying that something else is concentrating on you as prey?

And isn't it refreshing to have a show like that? Even Carl is mature for his years. (I haven't seen enough of Sophia to get a read on her, but she's certainly no brat.)

When the characters behave "badly" (Andrea's attitude problem), they're usually justified. She's annoyed at being deprived of a much easier way of committing suicide than she's likely to run into in the foreseeable future, and she's gotta be LIVID that she didn't have a gun with her when the zombie came outta nowhere. I would be all up in Dale's face about that, but Andrea just disappeared into the RV. She's being nicer about it than I would be.

And what the hell was so interesting about the school to keep them there, anyway?

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Maybe zombies just mill around the place they died unless something sets them off migrating. There were soldiers and a guy in a FEMA jacket among the zombies.

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Andrea actually gave Dale a very pissed off look. And I was thinking, whoa, waitaminute, now you're pissed off because a Zombie attacked you, when you were pissed off about being alive still alst week Make up your mind woman.

That zombie couldn't have attacked her if she had blown up with the CDC.

Given the situation, I'm not inclined to criticize anyone for being irrational.

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Eh...with that bag of drugs, I'm sure there's something in there she could overdose on, if she still wants out. I can still easily forgive her, if she straightens up, but, I don't think much of her this season so far.